Light in Darkness
by Celestial Chaos
Summary: Luna and Artemis selectively wipe the girls' memories after the Starlights return to their home planet, allowing them to live normal lives. But when a new evil that feeds on fear approaches, how will the Senshi respond to being reawakened?
1. Prologue

Author's Notes: So, basically, watching a heck of a lot of Sailor Moon in a short period of time, especially when you haven't written in a while, can sometimes be a bad thing. But sometimes, it's a good thing! Because it makes you want to write fanfic about it. I've been into Sailor Moon ever since I was like, 6 years old. I've just never really written in the fandom, mostly because Harry Potter was where the action was at for me. But, here I am, writing a story!

I don't want to give away too much for plot reasons, so here's a prologue to the story that explains why some things are going to be the way they are. It's important to note that this takes place almost right after Stars ends, pretty much, and so the girls' ages are anywhere from 16-18 (depending on the Sailor Senshi in question).

Enjoy! And please don't forget to review. It feeds the soul to get good feedback.

Oh, yes. I also don't own any of these characters. They all belong to the ever wonderful Naoko Takeuchi.

* * *

Luna listened to the sound of Usagi's light snoring not too far away from her, further up on the bed. She had tried to go to sleep several times over the course of the last few hours, but to no avail. There was too much rattling around in her head.

Letting out a quiet, frustrated little huff of breath, the dark haired cat uncurled her body and stretched it, then hopped over onto the windowsill, staring out at the starry night sky. _Everything seems so peaceful_, she thought, just like every other night for the past few weeks. Ever since the Starlights had returned to their home planet, Luna had been expecting some evil force to come to Earth and wreak havoc. It was hard for her not to. After the Shadow Galactica, the Dead Moon Circus, the Death Busters, The Dark Moon, and Queen Beryl…it had been one thing after the next, just another form of evil attempting to bring Chaos to the solar system.

But as of late, nothing like that had happened. There had even been a decrease in the amount of normal crime taking place around Tokyo, which Luna found to be somewhat odd.

"Maybe tonight is the night," she murmured to herself while staring out the window.

Luna continued to focus her attention at the scene in front of her for a few more moments before turning her head to look at Usagi. She looked so happy, so comfortable. At peace.

_Tonight_, the dark haired cat thought to herself with an affirmative nod. She turned back and slipped out of the Tsukino home through the open window, bouncing off of the balcony and onto the ground below. When she landed she was surprised to see another cat standing right there in front of her.

"Artemis!" she said.

"Hi, Luna." The white haired cat stepped toward the other, giving her a small smile.

There was a brief pause when something clicked inside her head. "It looks like we had the same thing in mind," she told him.

"That the girls deserve another chance at having a normal life? Of course." Artemis seated himself on the warm cement, giving the other a smile. "I know you and I had talked about doing it if things lightened up, and it seems they have."

"For now," Luna said, unable to hide her wariness. She glanced up at the cloudless night sky for a moment. "So I'm going to hope it stays that way. If it doesn't…"

"We can deal with that when the time comes. It's time to think positive!" Giving the other cat a disarming sort of smile, Artemis tapped his tail against the ground. "So then, Luna, shall we?"

She nodded. Then, suddenly, she said, "I want them to stay friends, Artemis. They've all been through so much together. They at least deserve that."

Artemis nodded as well. "We'll make it work."

For the first time in a while, Luna smiled.


	2. Sweets and sours?

Author's Notes: Chapter one is here! Cause I finished with chapter three (it was a little short), and so I figured I could post this. Enjoy! Don't forget those reviews. ;D

* * *

"I'm gonna be late...!"

Usagi wailed frantically while trying to make sure that she had everything gathered up for her trip to the Crown Center Fruit Parlor. Today was Minako's birthday and they were holding her party there, but as usual, she had overslept and had gotten a late start to her day. A _really _late start.

Minako's present was resting on her desk beside her photo of her and Mamoru, wrapped in shiny orange paper with a bright red bow at the top. Through some miracle Usagi had managed to get two tickets to the Hoshiboshi Brothers' concert, one of the newer bands to pop up over the course of the summer. They were wildly popular and one of her friend's favorite groups.

And as was to be expected, as she ran out of her room—nearly stumbling in the process—the blond haired girl forgot the package she had been planning on taking with her.

She bolted out of her house saying her goodbyes and shot down the street, heading toward the Crown Center not too far away. She arrived a few minutes later, just in time to see Ami and Makoto walking up from the opposite direction. Usagi stopped in front of the building to catch her breath through heavy pants.

Ami was the first to greet her. She smiled. "Usagi, are you all right? You look flushed!"

Makoto was grinning. "Thinking you were gonna be late?"

Usagi made a face. "I...was...not..."

Although it was obvious by the looks on their faces that neither of the other girls believed her, they nonetheless nodded. But before they walked into the center, Ami smiled and asked, "So what did _you_ get for Minako?"

Quite pleased with herself, Usagi plunged her hand into her pocket in order to retrieve the small, rectangular box. Her expression became puzzled as she dug further inside and, when she didn't find it in one pocket, she dove her hand into the other. Soon her eyes widened and she looked almost like she was going to cry.

"Where is it!?"

Makoto frowned. "Oh, Usagi...you didn't forget it, did you?"

Tears started streaming down the blond girl's face as she lifted her hands up and held them against it. Incoherent whines were heard, and neither Ami nor Makoto could discern just what it was that Usagi was trying to say. When she started sniffling she heard footsteps behind her and she turned, almost wanting to crawl into a corner and hide. Minako was walking up the path with a skip to her walk, her golden hair shining despite the unusually cloudy sky above.

When Minako arrived at where the three others were standing, she smiled brightly and waved. "Hi, everyone!"

"Happy birthday, Minako!" Ami and Makoto said in unison.

Minako's smile widened as she said thanks, but the sight of her red-faced and teary-eyed friend caused it to fade. She looked at Usagi in concern. "Usagi, what's the matter?"

Behind her balled up fists, Usagi shook her head. "Minako, I...forgot your gift!"

The other blonde almost laughed. "Oh, Usagi! Don't worry about it! It's not like you won't see me later, hm?" She clasped her hand on her friend's shoulder and smiled warmly. Then she winked. "I can wait! Don't let it ruin my party! We've got lots of sweets to enjoy..."

At the mention of sweets Usagi's mood seemed to brighten. She lowered her hands and a smile broke out on her face. She nodded affirmatively.

Suddenly, from inside the center came the last of the five, Rei. Her dark hair flowed behind her as she seemed to almost stalk out to where the other four girls were standing. She had a somewhat irritated look on her face and her arms were folded over her chest.

"Was I the only one on time?" she asked, eying her watch. "It's already three ten!"

Ami glanced down at her watch and blinked, then looked over to Rei in surprise. "Actually, Rei, it's only three! We've just arrived, right on time."

Rei paused. "...Three?" she asked, only to look at her watch once more. She eyed Ami afterwards. As if to verify it she looked at the clock suspended on top of a pole not too far away, just across the street. Its face read three o'clock as well. Her face almost fell, and she looked embarrassed. "Well never mind!" she said quickly. "There's a table inside that I saved for us, so!"

While the four others shared a laugh at Rei's expense—who turned somewhat red—they didn't waste any time in going inside. The weather seemed like it was going to take a turn for the worse, and none of them really wanted to get caught in it.

Besides, they had sweets to enjoy.

. . .

Night fell upon Tokyo, bringing with it dark, black clouds full of rain. Each of the girls, Luna and Artemis slept soundly in their homes, unaware of the evil presence that descended along with the rain.

In a district not too far on the outskirts of the city lay a group of three dilapidated, run down and uninhabited houses in a triangular shape that had been long forgotten. All of them had broken windows on both the ground and first floors of each house, along with somewhat shoddy shingle work; some of the shingles had fallen onto the ground surrounding them, leaving open patches for water to seep through. Weeds of various shapes and sizes had completely overrun the yard the three houses shared, making them look even more imposing and deserted. Because of their close proximity to a cemetery nearby they remained unmoved and untouched, mostly due to superstition of bad spirits inhabiting and haunting them.

Nobody wanted to be the one who decided to destroy the resting place of a malevolent spirit, knowing that it would invite it to follow them home, after all.

As such, when five individuals materialized from clouds of black smoke right in front of the collection of buildings, nobody was the wiser. The eldest of the group—the obvious leader—was a pale and wrinkly skinned man, whose face and pupil-less black eyes were the only visible part of him, the rest being hidden by the long, flowing grey robe he wore. Behind him stood two men and women, each unique in their appearance.

The older of the two women, whose hair as dark as the night sky above them stuck to her contrastingly white skin, stepped forward and brought her arms close to herself. She spoke with a calculating and somewhat flat tone as she addressed the elder.

"Phantasmos—my Lord—is _this_ where we're calling home on this planet?"

The old man held up his left hand to silence her. He didn't look over his shoulder at her while he spoke. "Quiet, Dreadma. Nobody will suspect these places because they believe them to be haunted. You know that, yourself." Finally he turned to look at her, meeting her piercing blue eyes. "And by claiming this spot as our own…it will be simple to make it seem like it really _is_ haunted. Nobody will suspect."

The taller man, with equally dark hair and eyes as Dreadma, approached the other two, eying the dilapidated houses carefully, as if inspecting them. When he spoke his tone was held a sense of seriousness. "It'll certainly make taking the focal point of this city a lot easier. And there are three houses, so we can separate them as we like."

"Eziret, may I stay with you?" asked the younger, somewhat shorter of the two men. He, unlike the others, had hair that was nearing a dark shade of blond, although in the rain it had faded into an off shade of brown due to being wet. His features were rounder, softer, slightly more effeminate, and it was obvious in the way that he acted that he was a subordinate to the others. His thin fingers clasped the dark blue fabric of Eziret's shirt around his shoulder.

"Things will be decided in due time, Somasis," Eziret replied.

"What about those factories over there?" The youngest of the group, a girl with bright red ringlets for hair and skin somewhat darker than the rest, pointed not too far off in the distance at a large collection of buildings with smoke pipes extending into the air. "What about the people who come in and out of _them_? Won't they see us?"

"No, Anxa," replied Phantasmos simply. He returned his gaze to the three small houses in front of them all. "Now, we can't waste any time. The sun is likely to rise soon because of this planet's proximity to it. Let us go."

Without another word, the five wet individuals of varying heights and sizes stepped toward the center house's front door. Phantasmos waved his hand and a large black portal through which they walked appeared. They disappeared from sight.

The inside of the run-down house wasn't much better than the outside, and was likely more dangerous. The tile floor of the house's entryway had been lifted up and cracked into pieces, revealing the foundation and the dirt beneath. Due to the broken windows, parts of the wooden floor spread out throughout the house—namely in the living room and the dining room—had become warped from the rainwater, causing hazardous, random humps to form. Curtain rods hung loosely and awkwardly on the window frames, some with curtains and some without. There were also musty chairs, couches and tables strewn about the ground floor that the previous owners of the home hadn't taken with them when they moved.

Phantasmos looked around at the broken light fixtures in the ceiling, as well as at the windows. There were far too many for his liking. With two waves of his arms he covered them with dark black, swirling circles. For a moment, the house was plunged into complete darkness. But soon thereafter each of the dark circles began emitting a strange, faint grey glow, one that pulsated through the house and illuminated the area surrounding them. Everything was visible again, but only in shades of black and grey, save for the distinct eyes of each of the four younger individuals and the pale white of their skin.

"This is more to my liking," Phantasmos said.

Without so much as another word he left his four minions alone in the living room, going up the stairs to see what the area was like. They knew better than to follow, and none said anything of his departure.

"More like home," Eziret said after a moment. He stretched his arms out and moved toward the fireplace not too far away. With a snap of his fingers he caused the soggy and charred logs inside it to somehow ignite. The fire, although warm, did not cast any light into the small, square area.

He stuck his hands out in front of it to gain some feeling in them.

Anxa shifted almost uncomfortably in place. "We'll have time to get used to this place, right? It seems weird. There's a lot more light and color than the last planet we went to. Even at night."

"It's no different than what we've come across before," Somasis told her with a roll of his amber colored eyes. "You know artificial light isn't as bad as the real stuff. And this place isn't _that_ bad. You can tell, though, that they don't feel comfortable with darkness, with all the lights they've got everywhere."

"They'll feel comfortable soon enough." Dreadma, who had been standing near one of the swirling dark circles, turned to face the other three. There was a faint smirk on her face. "I think tonight we'll gather our bearings…get comfortable and explore the area." Eziret, Somasis and Anxa all looked at her and listened as she continued to speak.

"And then tomorrow we'll get down to business."

. . .

It was three thirty in the morning—a time when most people would be asleep. But there was a young woman, one whose aqua colored hair seemed to reflect the light from the glistening raindrops on her window, who wasn't. She was in fact quite the opposite, feeling wide-awake and somewhat uncomfortable.

Michiru sighed quietly. Something didn't seem right, but she couldn't quite explain it. She had awoken not too long ago from a dream that had gripped the very core of her being with fear.

There had been images of large, fantastical beings attacking people, drawing something from them—something like shadows—that seemed to create new monsters, ones more horrendous than the originals. In the dark black sky above she had been able to discern the outlines of four figures, and behind them one larger one, although its silhouette was faint and nearly impossible to make out. Whatever they were, and whatever the creatures had been, they had all scared her enough to make her somewhat wary of trying to go back to sleep.

She looked briefly over at her bed, where her longtime partner, Haruka, was sleeping. The sound of the tall blond girl's breathing was drowned out by the sound of the rain outside, but Michiru was able to see the rise and fall of her chest, and that was reassuring. She returned her attention to the strange weather outside. It didn't often rain this badly at this time during the year. But, the weather report had indicated that there would be an unusual amount of rainfall overnight. It almost felt as if she could sense that something was wrong about it—and that there was something ill at ease in the city.

She had allowed that dream too much control over her she realized at that moment, and so she slowly lifted herself up and moved back to the bed, climbing into it to lie down again. Her spot had cooled considerably, so she draped the covers back over herself in order to keep warm. She glanced over at Haruka, who was still sleeping peacefully. Reaching out, she brushed some stray strands of hair out and away from her lover's eyes. Haruka stirred, but did not awaken.

Michiru wished that she could figure out why things felt so uneasy…and what that dream had been about. She seemed to have an uncanny knack for knowing about things before they happened, but she sincerely hoped that whatever the dream had meant, whatever foreboding message it was trying to send, she had been wrong in interpreting it, and that it had really just been a dream.

With her luck, however, it could really only mean quite the opposite.


	3. Reawakening

Author's Notes: Here's chapter two! Sorry it took so long to post. Been busy! Enjoy!

* * *

Luna stared out the window, watching the rain pour relentlessly onto the cement of the street in front of the Tsukino residence. Usagi had gone to school several hours ago and had left her cat to her own devices as she often did. While Luna normally didn't mind this, she felt ill at ease after having picked up on a strange surge of energy in the middle of the previous night. She had been trying to figure out what it meant for quite a while now, but nothing was quite clicking.

She wondered if the rain was going to let up any time soon. She needed to speak with Artemis about what she had felt and see what he thought, but with the storm outside, it was going to be impossible to get there safely. And although part of Luna wanted to think that she had just been feeling things that weren't actually real, she knew much better than to believe that. She had always trusted her instincts and they had yet to fail her once.

If she was right, then the girls would need to be reawakened as sailor senshi again.

That tore at her heart. Luna turned away from the window and padded onto the bed, looking over at a few photos on Usagi's desk. There was one of her, Ami, Rei, Makoto and Minako at the park together, taken earlier that summer just after their memories had been modified. Next to it was a photograph of Usagi standing in front of Haruka, Michiru and Setsuna. In all of the pictures the girls looked so innocent, so carefree. Having to remind them of their destinies just didn't seem fair, even though deep down, Luna knew that she ultimately had no right to make that decision.

Part of her thought that what she and Artemis had done was absolutely inappropriate; that they should have left the girls alone and just let them not use their powers. But day after day passed and there had been a clear enough difference in the way they all acted that made it obvious that they were much happier not having to deal with their responsibilities. They could simply be teenage girls and nothing more. Most of the time, that in itself was hard enough.

Luna jumped down off of the bed onto the mat-covered floor below. She was just about to go downstairs when she heard a thumping on the window, which caused her to turn around quickly.

Standing in the window was a familiar face, whose white hair was drenched from the rain outside.

"Artemis!?" she exclaimed in surprise.

He was the last individual she had expected to see at that moment, but she couldn't deny that she felt an immense sense of relief with his arrival. She pounced onto the bed and went over to the window, undoing the lock and pushing it open in order for him to step inside. When he did he headed straight for the floor, giving a vigorous shake of his fur to get rid of the water, which flew everywhere.

Luna went over to Usagi's hamper in the closet and retrieved a towel with her teeth, placing it on the floor for him to roll around on in order to dry off. It didn't take him long to do so, and afterward, he let out a huff of breath.

"Artemis," Luna repeated. "Thank goodness you're here!"

"Hi, Luna," Artemis said, sputtering afterward. He gave a quick shake of his head. "It's really pouring out there. I thought the rain was only supposed to last overnight."

"Me, too."

With formalities of sorts out of the way, the darker haired cat knew that they could get down to business. She figured it was the reason Artemis had come all this way anyways, considering how far away Minako's house was from Usagi's.

She cleared her throat. "So…you felt it, too?"

Artemis took a seat on the towel and made an uneasy face. "Yes."

Luna looked down. "Then…"

"…We don't really have any other option. It's our duty." He paused. "_Their_ duty. As…sad as it is." There was remorse in his voice, but a sense of purpose, as well. Luna knew this was as hard for him to say as it was for her to think about.

"Can we at least wait and check it our for ourselves before we bring back their memories?" Luna was hoping beyond all hope that perhaps it wasn't as bad as they thought it was…that maybe some latent, residual energy had struck through and surprised them, but had brought nothing along with it.

At this Artemis nodded. "If the rain lets up this evening we can investigate it further. I haven't felt anything since last night. With any luck, we won't feel anything else."

It was settled then. Luna seated herself on the mat and looked over at the door, then at the clock not too far away. It was nearing the time for Usagi to come home. She focused her attention on Artemis. "You'll need to leave right away. Usagi will be home soon, and if she sees you here…"

An incredulous look appeared on Artemis' face, his mouth partially open. "Can't I at least dry off first?"

. . .

Luna felt anxious as dinnertime ended, and the Tsukino family went about their nightly activities. The rain had stopped not too long ago, and although she wanted to go out, find Artemis and explore with him, Usagi took her upstairs into the bathroom with her for her bath. She tried to hide her irritation, since her friend had no idea what it was she wanted to do.

As Usagi sat in the bath, Luna joined her on the side, staring out the window to see if the rain was going to start up again. She nearly jumped when she felt wet fingers touching the back of her neck.

"Luna!" Usagi giggled. "What's got you so jumpy, hmm?"

_If only I could tell you_, Luna thought. She let out a quiet mew in response, closing her eyes as the blond haired girl stroked the spot between her ears.

Even though Luna had become accustomed to not speaking to Usagi, this was one night that she both wanted to and didn't want to. She wanted to tell her that something may have been going on, that she may have to turn into Sailor Moon again…but she remembered the first time she had done that, and the second time. This was going to be the third time.

How would she take it?

Luna looked toward the window again before deciding that she needed to know for sure whether or not Sailor Moon needed to be awoken again. As she jumped from the side of the tub onto the floor she heard Usagi call after her, but she ignored it, bounding out of the bathroom and toward the bedroom. Slipping through the window after she cracked it open, Luna hopped out onto the balcony, shut the window behind her and then dropped onto the ground below, just like she had not too long ago. Usagi was going to worry about where she had gotten off to, but without a trail, there was no need to worry about her following.

She and Artemis had never officially given a time for them to meet, but since the rain had let up not too long ago, she was sure that the two of them would cross paths on her way toward Minako's house.

The night sky was dark and clouds hung heavy in it, covering majority of the moonlight and the stars above. The pads of Luna's feet were wet and slapped against the concrete as she jogged to her destination.

But she stopped suddenly when she felt something cause all of the hair on her body to stand on end. She looked around her to figure out what it was, even if she couldn't see it. The feeling was unmistakable: there was something evil in the area. It caused her heart to sink.

She needed to get to Artemis.

"Kyaaaa!!"

The abrupt sound caught Luna off guard. That was the distinctive scream of a girl, and based on the volume of it, she wasn't too far away. She was torn between three different choices now: going back and retrieve Usagi; going and finding Artemis; or going and investigating the situation herself. She was too far from her house to get Usagi, even if she ran…and if she tried to get Artemis, who knew what would happen to the girl?

Squeezing her eyes shut and shaking her head, Luna then burst like a rocket from where she was standing, not regretting her final decision in the least. When she reached it, she ripped around the corner, fully preparing herself for whatever may come. To her surprise there was nothing in her immediate vicinity. She looked around, ears curving and turning to try and figure out just where the sound had come from. Her instincts told her to keep going straight, and she followed them, heading down the partially slanted hill.

On her way down she came across a side street that cut through the block and her eyes caught sight of something strange happening down it. All of the lights along the walkway were flickering, and there were strange shadows moving all around it. The hair on Luna's body stood on end again but she ignored it and turned quickly to run down the pathway. She stopped about halfway down it, however, because the sight before her nearly took her breath away.

A strange looking girl with somewhat dark colored skin and dressed in the oddest two piece outfit of black cloth and boots had her hand held out in front of her extended toward another young girl just across from her. There was a devious look on her face.

"So anxious and afraid of the dark!" she said.

Before Luna could intervene, a small, dark, swirling circle appeared in the strange girl's hand, and from it shot a jet of black energy that injected itself into the other girl's body. Her short, dark brown hair flew upwards as if she were falling, and all of her limbs tightened. She screamed again, after which the black energy reappeared behind her, shooting out into several different beams that began to swirl around and form a sphere. For a moment they whirled around, but then they quickly concentrated into one large sphere that burst like a popped balloon. From it appeared a monster that looked like nothing more than a solidified shadow in the shape of a woman. But soon it took on a slightly more human face, with solid red eyes and fingernails.

The oddly dressed girl giggled, which brought Luna out of the haze she had seemingly gone into while watching the monster appear. The other girl had fallen to the ground by that point and her eyes looked glazed over and blank.

Willing herself to focus, Luna realized that she had absolutely no chance of taking this thing on her own. She was just about to make a dive for the monster when she heard the sound of Usagi's voice crying behind her, "Luna! Luna, did you come this way!?"

The dark haired cat's heart jumped. In the moment that she looked over her shoulder to see where Usagi's voice had come from, the dark skinned figure had noticed her. When she looked back toward the scene she saw her coming towards her.

"Oh, little kitty! What're you doing here? You don't wanna get crushed, do you?"

She reached down to pet Luna but the dark haired cat reacted violently. Her claws extended and she scratched the girl's hand, jumping back and away from her, and also back onto the street she had turned from. She heard Usagi's voice again, this time more cheerful, but it was drowned out by the sound of the girl's scream of pain.

"You stupid little—! Hey, you! Dark Fara! Come make this cat pay for what it did to me!"

It was no use now, Luna thought. Getting Usagi's memories back in time for her to transform into Eternal Sailor Moon wasn't going to happen fast enough. She turned to Usagi then, who had stopped running and was about to kneel down and pick her up.

"_Run_!" Luna exclaimed at the top of her lungs.

Usagi paused, a look of complete confusion taking over her face. "Luna, did you—"

The cat's expression became irritated. "I said, _run_!"

Knowing that what she had said had probably just caused Usagi to have a meltdown, Luna didn't think much of it when she saw the blond haired girl begin to stammer and squeal, looking even more confused than before. She instead focused her attention in front of her, which was when she noticed that the evil girl had left, leaving the shadow woman behind, who was coming at her full force.

Luna closed her eyes and prepared to pounce again in order to give them some time to run away. Just as she was about to jump she heard:

"_Venus Love and Beauty Shock_!"

She opened her eyes to the sight of a large, golden glowing heart coming up the opposite way, behind the shadow monster. It hit it hard and knocked it through the air, up and over Luna's head, and onto the other side of the street. Shortly thereafter she saw Sailor Venus running towards them, Artemis at her side.

"Thank goodness!" Luna called suddenly.

Artemis nodded once the two of them arrived by Luna and Usagi. Sailor Venus was eying the monster, but was suddenly distracted by the delightful squealing of the young girl beside them.

"Sailor Venus! Is that—is that really _you_!?"

Artemis gave Luna a look. "You didn't reawaken her?"

"This must be some kind of weird dream," Usagi said, rolling up her sleeve to pinch herself. Her cheeks turned somewhat red from the pain. "Luna is talking, and Sailor Venus is here, and…!"

"I'll take care of the monster," Sailor Venus said. "You two reawaken Usagi so that she can help me!" Without another word the sailor suited girl prepared herself for another round with the monster.

"This isn't happening!" Usagi cried out.

"Usagi, I need you to listen to me," Luna stated very seriously. She could see by the look on her face that Usagi was confused and scared, but she wouldn't be soon enough. "Look at me."

Once that was done, Luna then closed her eyes and focused on bringing up all that had happened in the years past. From the crescent moon on her forehead came a soft, glowing beam of light that connected with the same spot on Usagi's forehead, revealing her crescent moon as well. The memories flowed freely from one to the other, and Usagi recalled fighting Queen Beryl, fighting the Dark Moon, the Death Busters, the Dead Moon Circus, and finally, Sailor Galaxia. By the end of it tears were streaming down her cheeks, but she did not sniffle, nor did she cry out again.

When she opened her eyes she looked at Luna and Artemis like one would an old friend. She held her hand to her chest. It appeared as if she were going to say something, but she didn't. Instead she gazed at Luna again, who knew what to do.

She had hoped, of course, that it wouldn't have to come to it. But when she did a back flip in the air she caused Usagi's transformation brooch to appear once again. It landed in Usagi's hands.

"Take that!" Venus shouted not too far away, having shot a Crescent Beam at the shadow monster.

After a short pause Usagi rose to her feet and held her brooch in the air, crying out, "_Moon Eternal Make-Up_!"

Time seemed to stop as Usagi was enveloped in a collection of pure white feathers. While they surrounded her they formed into her sailor suit, into her gloves, into her boots, finally culminating in the appearance of her wings. When her transformation was complete she held her pose, having become a completely different person in demeanor.

Unfortunately, she didn't have much time to think about that fact. Two blasts of dark energy shot from the monster's hands, snaking around Sailor Venus' body like a pair of whips. She was trapped in place, and she let out a pained cry.

"Sailor Venus!" Sailor Moon called out in surprise. She pointed at the enemy. "Hey you! Horrible creature! How dare you come to my planet and make my friend reawaken me as a sailor soldier! I was having an amazing time not having to worry about monsters like you. For this, I'll punish you!"

Focusing her energy, she brought forth the Eternal Moon Scepter. While she was preparing to use it she noticed Luna and Artemis shoot across the street and attack the monster, which caused it to lose its grip on Sailor Venus. She fell to the ground with a quiet grunt, fazed by the grip it had had on her.

With the monster now sufficiently distracted the two cats bounced back and away from it, leaving it open to an attack. Sailor Moon began to twirl the wand about her. "_Silver Moon_…" She slowly lifted it above her head, "_Crystal Power_…_Kiss_!"

Dozens of bright streams of light burst from the top of the scepter, swirling around in the air before honing in on the shadow woman. A horrendous sound escaped the monster as the beams of light tore through her, causing her to break apart into what appeared to be a cloud of black smoke. Nothing was left in her wake—not even a mark on the ground.

Sailor Moon and Sailor Venus looked at each other, puzzled. Both had been expecting some kind of human to appear after the fact, and were surprised to be left with nothing.

Luna and Artemis had some explaining to do.


	4. Explanations

Author's Notes: Chapter three, yay! This is shorter than what I usually write for a chapter, but I found that I didn't want to put more into this chapter...it would seem awkward in reading. So, thus, this. Enjoy!

* * *

"So you see…that was why we did it. We wanted you girls to have a chance at a normal life again. Even if it meant we had to consider reawakening you all once more."

Luna's words washed over the inner five who sat in front of the altar of the Hikawa shrine, whose expressions were on a spectrum that ranged anywhere from entirely curious to completely confused. Artemis sat to her left, listening as well. They had gathered after classes and activities that Monday, sometime in the late afternoon, in order to discuss things further and reawaken the memories of the other three.

"It seemed like a good idea at the time," Luna continued, lowering her head. "But we were delaying the inevitable, I think."

"Don't blame yourself, Luna," Ami stated. "What you did was very considerate."

"And it _did_ give us a chance to have normal lives," Makoto added with a smile on her face.

Minako grinned. "And at least one normal birthday!" She lifted a finger to her lips, a somewhat thoughtful look taking over her face. "Well, in my case."

Artemis laughed. "In any case, we're sorry that we had to reawaken you, but…there's good reason. Minako and I discussed this last night." Here the blonde nodded. "The night before last, Luna and I felt a flow of evil energy, although we weren't able to exactly pinpoint where it came from, or even what it is. The rain made it impossible for us to explore the situation further."

Rei, who was dressed in her _miko_ robes, folded her hands in her lap. She appeared concerned. "You know, come to think of it, just the other night I had a dream that really shook me. There were dark shadows, monsters and everything…" She paused for a moment while the others turned their focus to her. "I wondered what it meant. It really worried me. At least now I know what it was in relation to."

"Do you remember anything specific from the dream?" Luna asked.

"No," Rei replied. She knitted her brow thoughtfully. "Or at least, nothing big. I remember seeing…these four distinct shapes in the sky, and behind them was another one, but it was hard to make out. There were just so many monsters…"

Usagi, who up until this point had been silent, suddenly spoke up. There was both confusion and a little bit of frustration in her voice. "The one from last night was really weird!"

"That's because whatever it was that that strange girl did, it didn't involve _changing_ the girl she attacked," Luna explained. "It appeared to be more like she was…taking something out of her, or extracting something from her."

"And you say that's what formed into the monster?" Ami asked.

"Yes."

The blue haired girl frowned for a moment. "How odd. I wonder—"

Before she could continue, the two large doors to the altar room opened. All five girls and both cats turned their attention to them, expecting to see either Rei's grandfather or Yuichiro. To their surprise, it was neither of them. Standing there in the doorway were Haruka, Michiru, Setsuna, and Hotaru, who was holding a picnic basket.

"Hi, everyone," Hotaru said with a smile on her face.

Greetings were exchanged among all of the senshi, although on the outers' behalf they were somewhat terse. With their arrival the ambiance seemed to change, becoming much more serious than before. The four of them continued to stand even while Usagi and the others invited them to sit.

"We're not here for long," Haruka admitted. "We came to see if it happened to you, too."

"If what happened?" Minako asked.

"If your memories and powers were restored," Michiru stated. She went on to explain. "Something arrived on the planet recently, and it was severe enough to awaken Hotaru's powers, which in turn awoke ours." She folded her hands in front of her stomach, eying Luna and Artemis perhaps a bit critically. "I dreamt about its arrival not too long ago."

Rei slowly moved to stand. "I did, too, actually. Just the other night."

"I'm not surprised," Michiru remarked.

"We must be on our guard if it's awoken Sailor Saturn's powers," Setsuna informed the group. She looked over them with an almost worried expression on her face. "But, we also came to investigate why we were even reawakened in the first place. Someone,"—here she looked at Artemis and Luna—"must have caused them to become dormant."

Luna sighed. There was a somewhat guilty tone to her voice, one that was even slightly regretful. "I wanted you four, too, to be able to live normal lives for a little while." She gazed up at Setsuna and the others. "I know that you had classes to attend, and Haruka had her racing, and Michiru, her music and swimming clubs—"

"—Our job as guardians is more important," Haruka cut Luna off before she could finish speaking. Luna quieted. The girl's gaze hardened some.

"We must protect the princess," Michiru added, her tone serious. "It's our duty."

"Luna was just trying to help!" Makoto insisted abruptly. She moved to stand, and though she looked somewhat petulant, it didn't seep into her tone quite so much. Her voice softened as she said, "You have to admit that you enjoyed having _some_ time off, right?"

None of the outer senshi said anything, because it was the truth. In the time after their memories had been modified, all of them had been able to focus on their favorite pastimes, even Hotaru, who had been able to go to school like a normal girl for once. They had enjoyed it, perhaps more than they should have, although all of them had felt as if something were slightly off, even if they couldn't quite put their fingers on it. Now they knew why.

An odd silence fell over them all.

"So…what's the basket for?" Usagi asked not too long thereafter, wanting to break up the discomfort in the room.

Hotaru smiled again, although somewhat fainter than before. "Haruka-papa and Michiru-mama said they were going to take me to the park today. So, we're heading that way after here."

As if on cue, Usagi's stomach gave a loud groaning noise. Her cheeks turned red, and she lifted up a hand, holding it behind her head as she laughed in embarrassment. "I haven't had dinner yet…"

"We're going to look into things further after we eat," Haruka explained after yet another moment's silence. "Since it's going to get dark soon, we'll have cover if necessary. Whatever it is won't waste any time in planning an attack."

By now, all of the girls were standing, but it was Minako who stepped forward, her arms folded over her chest. She looked up at the shorthaired blonde. "_Whoever_ it was already did."

Haruka's features changed just slightly—there was light worry in her eyes. "What?"

"That's what we're attempting to figure out," Artemis explained. "A monster attacked last night."

"What happened?" Setsuna asked, concerned.

"A strange girl appeared dressed in a black two piece," Luna began, "she expelled some dark energy from her hand and it penetrated her victim, then came out the other end and formed into a shadow monster. Sailor Moon used the Eternal Moon Scepter to eliminate it."

Usagi made a strange, somewhat worried noise. "But instead of my attack healing whatever it was, it just destroyed it."

"We won't know what they're after until they attack again," Ami said. "But we have reason to believe that it may have something to do with the people they choose as victims, since they aren't turning them into monsters…or so we think at this point."

"We'll all have to be on our guard." Michiru placed her hand on Hotaru's shoulder, looking down at her. After a moment she returned her attention to the others. "We'll let you know what we come up with."

"We'll be investigating, too" Artemis assured them, giving an affirming nod. "And if we get any new information, we'll let you know."

"I think it's time for us to go, then." Haruka briefly placed her hand on Hotaru's other shoulder, guiding her away from the group and toward the doors again. "Let's go."

"See you around school tomorrow," Michiru offered before turning around.

She, Setsuna and Hotaru followed Haruka out of the altar room, none of them shutting the doors behind them. Rei walked over to do that after watching them leave. When she turned back around there was unease written across her face.

"Until we know what they're mission is, there isn't much we can do right now," Ami mused aloud. The other girls nodded. "It'd likely be best if we tried to keep ourselves occupied until they attack again."

"Everyone has their communicators, right?" Luna asked.

Ami, Rei, Makoto and Minako all pulled theirs out almost instantly, but it took Usagi a moment longer, because she had put hers in a different pocket than she normally did. When she pulled it out she almost smirked.

"You thought I'd forget it, didn't you!" She pointed at Luna, playfully making a face.

Everyone laughed, despite the heaviness of the previous situation.

For now, the only thing they could do was wait.


	5. A Picnic gone wrong

Author's Notes: Here's chapter four :D Enjoy! And please don't forget to review!

* * *

Despite the rain from the day before, the weather outside was surprisingly nice. The soon-to-be-setting sun was shining, and the air was somewhat crisp and refreshing. Haruka parked her car not too far from the park and locked it up after everyone else got out. There was a light breeze that felt somewhat reassuring, and that worried her a little, given what had happened just the night before. Things shouldn't have felt quite so calm.

But, she was determined to not let that get to her, at least for the moment. They had been planning this picnic for at least a week now, but conflicting schedules among Haruka, Michiru and Setsuna had made it difficult. Here they were finally, and Hotaru seemed to be quite pleased about it.

Having run ahead of the group and into the grass, she searched for a place for them to sit. There was a nice patch of green grass just beneath a tree whose leaves had turned and begun to fall. She gestured for them to join her there, and when they did, Haruka spread out the blanket she had carried with her from the car in order for them to sit on it.

"It's surprisingly nice outside right now," Michiru commented lightly, her eyes traveling up to the tree above them as she took a seat.

"Part of me is expecting something to happen." Setsuna's voice was calm, albeit somewhat serious. As she seated herself she glanced around them carefully, purveying the grounds. There were other families there, children playing, and an occasional dog. Nothing out of the ordinary, but there was tension there that didn't have a right to be.

"Everything will be fine," Hotaru said serenely. Her lack of worry put all three of the older girls at a bit more ease, because the black haired one was usually more sensitive to arriving danger than any of them were.

Plus, they had come here in order to relax and have fun. Although they always needed to keep their guard up, it didn't mean that they couldn't enjoy themselves for a little while, as well. Haruka draped her arm over her upward bent knee as she reached into the basket to pull out the fresh apple she had stuck in there. Afterward, Michiru pulled out four boxes, one lunch for each of them, and handed them to everyone, keeping her own in her lap.

"It'll be getting dark soon, so let's eat up," Setsuna said with a warm smile on her face.

Once they shared thanks for the meal the four of them ate and chatted, with topics ranging anywhere from how school was for all of them, to what clubs had been like that day. Hotaru had joined the baton club back when school had begun a while ago, and she was doing very well in it, which made all three of the others quite proud. Michiru shared with them about an experience in music class that involved her scoring yet another independent recital, and afterward Haruka told them about how she was going to be entering in a somewhat high stakes race at the track.

"Can we play Frisbee now?" Hotaru asked after some time. She wanted to get up and move around, and she smiled, pulling one out of the bag she had brought with her.

"Sure." Haruka chuckled, moving to her feet. "Come on, then, let's go find an open spot."

Michiru and Setsuna followed after the other two, although neither of them made any move to join in the Frisbee throwing right away. Haruka made especially sure to throw carefully, as she didn't want to make Hotaru run all over the place. After a little while of the two throwing it back and forth, Michiru and Setsuna decided to join in, which allowed them to spread out some and toss the Frisbee greater distance.

Above them, the sun had already begun to set. Evenings came much quicker nowadays, and with them came the slightly cooler night. The streetlights splayed about the park flickered to life, casting shadows along the pathways, and around the fountain located in the center of the area.

The four went back to the blanket in order to gather all their things they had to take home with them. Haruka folded up the blanket while Setsuna threw their trash away and Michiru and Hotaru gathered up everything else. By the time they had everything collected and ready to go, the sun was no more than a sliver on the horizon in the west, and the cool night air was beginning to blow a little. There was the faint smell that came with expected rain, and Haruka looked up then to check out the clouds above, which weren't as dark as they had been before.

Something was strange, she thought.

It was time for them to head back home. Hotaru and Setsuna slipped into the back of the car while Michiru took the passenger's side, and Haruka, the driver's. She had just stuck her key in the ignition when a number of anguished and surprised cries came from a group not too far away.

She turned to look at Michiru, and then Setsuna. But it was really Hotaru who caught her attention, because the sweet, innocent face of her sort-of adoptive daughter had become wholly serious quite suddenly. All three of them knew for sure that what they were dealing with at that moment nothing short of evil.

They were all out of the car in a matter of seconds, spread out around it as their eyes searched for the source of the screams. It was decided that they would split up, and that Haruka and Michiru would go one way, while Setsuna and Hotaru went the other.

The former two ran in the direction from which they had come, rushing past their previous sitting spot toward the area where all of the gazebos were. There were trees everywhere, and most of the light came from the lamp poles scattered around the area.

Sure enough, when Haruka and Michiru arrived at the scene, there was a young couple whose upright standing bodies were stiff as a board. Behind them was another individual that neither could see, but they were laughing almost maniacally. The two senshi looked at one another before nodding in silent agreement, pulling out their transformation sticks and disappearing behind the small lavatory building.

Together they said: "_Uranus Planet Power, Make-Up!_" and "_Neptune Planet Power, Make-Up!_"

Time seemed to stand still as Haruka and Michiru transformed. In a matter of moments they were no longer dressed in their civilian clothes, now sailor suited and prepared for battle.

They stepped out from behind the lavatory building and jumped through the air, Sailor Uranus landing on the back side of the gazebo with Sailor Neptune covering the front. The two individuals who had suffered the attacks were now lying on the ground with the same glazed eye appearance as the one from the night before. Standing in their place stood two monsters, one of which was large in stature, wide in build and was wearing an expensive looking tuxedo. The other, somewhat smaller in stature and build, but nonetheless scary, was dressed in a pop idol outfit complete with a skirt, boots, a halter-top and a microphone. Both of them seemed to be made of shadows solidified.

By now Sailors Uranus and Neptune were able to decipher the appearance of the other person standing in the gazebo. She had long, flowing back hair, pale skin, and from a distance could almost be mistaken for Rei, except for the fact that she was taller and somewhat stockier.

She caught sight of the two sailor senshi, looking from behind her to in front of her, and a surprised expression took over her face. "These must have been who Anxa was talking about," was all she said before disappearing in a cloud of black smoke. Neither Sailor Uranus nor Sailor Neptune had been able to say anything in return, but they noted that her tone was almost anxious.

"Looks like there's one for each of us," Sailor Uranus called across the way.

"A refresher," Sailor Neptune replied.

From the gazebo, each one of the shadow monsters jumped down from it and began running in opposite directions. Uranus and Neptune were both prepared to take them, until a sudden shout from the pop idol monster sent a collection of dangerous sound waves in Neptune's direction. She dodged it just in time and rolled onto the grass, managing to stand up almost immediately afterward.

"They don't fool around!" she announced with an amused smirk on her face.

The shadow monster in the skirt danced around, twirling her microphone in her hand. "Listen to my songs! It's my dream to sing them for all of Japan!!"

Sailor Uranus paused for just a moment, lifting her hand into the air. Suddenly a brilliant flash of golden light burst from her palm, forming into a large sphere. "_World_…" She spun around and released it on the ground, bouncing back in the process. "_Shaking_!"

Out of nowhere the shadow monster in the tuxedo dove in front of Uranus' attack, which had been aimed at the pop idol monster. "Don't hit my future wife! It's my dream to marry her!!"

Just before the attack hit him he undid his cummerbund, grabbed Sailor Uranus' power, and then launched it back at her almost like one would with a slingshot. She dove out of the way, managing to miss her own attack by mere inches. It came in contact with a nearby tree, whose branches crunched and cracked as they broke off completely from the force of the impact.

"Apparently they want to play nasty…" Sailor Uranus said, standing up and brushing herself off. When she looked over at Sailor Neptune, she noticed that the other had pulled out her Deep Aqua Mirror. She said nothing and instead simply watched.

"_Submarine Reflection!_" Sailor Neptune pointed her talisman at the shadow monsters, drowning them briefly in a flash of silvery light. When she turned her mirror back towards her, she looked almost horrified.

"_Dead_…_Scream._"

From not too far to the left came Sailor Pluto's attack. Neither of the monsters expected it, hitting both of them with full force. They went flying through the air, letting out shrieks, and when they came in contact with the ground they slid across it several yards before stopping.

Sailor Uranus made her way over to Neptune, appearing somewhere between concerned and confused. "What did you see?" she asked.

Neptune said nothing at first. Soon they were joined by Pluto and Saturn, who stood beside the other two senshi. Saturn's focus turned toward the enemies not too far away.

"I saw nothing but black," Neptune finally admitted. "It felt like pain…like fear. But there was something like hope in there, too. I…"

"What—"

Pluto was unable to continue, as they were soon under attack once more. The pop idol monster was sending sound waves at them again but in frequent bursts.

"_Silent Wall_!"

Sailor Saturn held up her glaive and deflected the attack, nullifying the waves. When she lowered her weapon she turned to Uranus and Neptune, who faced each other.

"One more time?" Uranus asked.

Neptune nodded.

Holding their hands up in the air, both sailor senshi called upon their powers. They simultaneously released them, and the two large spheres fused together, forming a massive energy ball that, when it came in contact with the monsters, caused them to turn into wisps of black smoke that blew away and faded into nothing.

Sailors Uranus and Neptune turned toward Sailors Pluto and Saturn. All four wore somewhat grave expressions. These enemies weren't like anything they had fought before.


	6. The Sailors meet up again

Author's Notes: Sorry it took me so long to get chapter five up and running. I got busy with school, and my muse kind of flittered away. Oddly enough she came back when I wanted to write Supernatural fanfic, but...somehow it transferred over to this, and I got three more chapters done? Yay! As always, reviews are very much appreciated!

* * *

"And they attacked you, too?" Anxa, unsurprisingly, sounded anxious as she spoke. She was sitting in a chair with her legs crossed, her arms folded over her chest.

"Yes," Dreadma replied irritably. "Three—no, four of them. All cocky and powerful. I didn't want to be attacked so I left the Faras there to take care of them, but I have a feeling that it was an unfair battle. Two against four…"

The two women were alone in the living room area of their home. Much like the other two houses on the lot theirs was devoid of any real sense of comfort. Peeling wallpaper, warped floorboards, broken doors and windows…but, like the other houses, each possible spot through which light could enter had been covered by swirling black holes that emitted a soft gray glow.

Dreadma tugged on a few strands of her dark hair as she stalked back and forth across the room. There needed to be some kind of plan, some kind of structure, for dealing with these stupid heroes that were protecting the planet. They had come across some before but they had been very easy to subdue. She figured that these were no different. It was simply going to take work, of which they were all quite capable.

She turned to Anxa. "So you ran across two…and I ran across four. That's six in total. Do you think there are more?"

"We can't bank on there only being a few," Anxa said. "We have to prepare for many. Terrible things could happen if we don't, and we don't need that."

"No, you're right. We don't." Dreadma wrinkled up her nose. "We'll have Somasis or Eziret try their luck next…see how they fare against these little monsters."

When Anxa nodded her head in agreement, an almost derisive chuckle floated throughout the small, enclosed area. Soon thereafter Somasis materialized from a cocoon of black, shadowy tendrils. He had his arms lifted above his head, and he swayed lightly as he walked toward the other two.

"Having troubles?" he asked. There was a satisfied sort of smirk on his face.

"Somasis," Dreadma and Anxa said in unison. Neither of them looked particularly satisfied.

"Were you listening in?" Dreadma continued. "Like you _always_ do?"

"No…" Somasis' tone, however, was light and almost playful. It was obvious that he had been listening to them, especially since he chuckled afterward. "I couldn't help…_overhearing_, I guess you could say, that you were having trouble. Phantasmos would be pretty unpleased if he knew about it."

"He's busy trying to find other focal points," Anxa stated. "You know that. And bothering him with something that is supposed to be _our_ job wouldn't bode well at all!"

"Eh…" The young man waved his hand dismissively. "I never said that _I_ was going to do it. It's bad luck to rat out your colleagues. And you know I'm all about following superstitions…" He grinned. "But, anyways, I don't plan on failing like you two did. In fact, I'm pretty sure I have a foolproof plan."

Dreadma almost glared. "Oh yeah? And what's that?"

"It's bad luck to talk about the event before it happens," Somasis offered. It was evasive at best, and a little obnoxious. "You'll see how things go. And it will be _very_ positive."

The two women stared at Somasis as he disappeared, the shadowy black tendrils engulfing him until they, too, faded from sight.

"Sometimes I can't stand how…full of himself he is." Anxa sniffed. "He's no more successful at these things than we are, most of the time. Or is he?"

"He's not," Dreadma said. She turned toward the other with a faint smirk curling the corners of her mouth. "But don't tell him I told you that."

. . .

Rei swept her broom across the stone pathway, moving from east to west. She had a few things to get done before the meeting that would be taking place at the shrine not too long from now. Although Rei herself hadn't been there at the time, Usagi had mentioned over their communicators that she had run into Michiru and Haruka at school, both of whom had been particularly adamant about everyone meeting sometime after classes that afternoon.

Given that her grandfather rarely checked to make sure everything was done as required due to his trust in Rei, she knew that she didn't have to do all of her chores all right away and could finish most of them after they met up. The only reason she was doing the sweeping currently was because of a sales event that would be taking place at the end of the week.

Well, that, and because it was productive and something to do to keep her busy until everyone arrived.

Time passed, and Rei continued to do her chores. It wasn't until she was in the middle of sweeping a pile of debris over toward the side of the pathway that noticed a large group ascending the stairs. Once in focus she realized it was Usagi and the others, including Luna and Artemis. She figured that they had all come together from school.

"Everyone!" she said in greeting.

They offered their hellos, and the group remained outside while they waited for Setsuna and Hotaru, who appeared only a minute or two later. Afterward, they all stepped into the shrine's altar room, where Haruka and Michiru wasted no time in bringing things to order.

"The four of us managed to stop an attack at the park yesterday night," Haruka explained.

"We were getting ready to leave when we heard some screams," Michiru added further. "So, we split up and Haruka and I came across a woman who was doing exactly what you described."

"Did she look the same?" Usagi asked.

"She looked different," Haruka said. She turned to Rei, eying her for a moment. "Kind of…like Rei, actually."

At this point, all of the other girls looked at Rei, whose cheeks turned red almost immediately. She brought her hands together. "A lot of girls look like me," she said in a lightly defensive manner.

"The only difference was that she was older," Michiru amended. All eyes fell on her. "We didn't get the best look, because she ran away almost immediately after the monsters appeared. She did, however, mention someone named Anxa."

"That has to be who we saw the other night," Luna said.

"Well, then we know at least _one_ of their names." Makoto made a fist. "And now we know that there's at least two of them, whoever they are."

"So did you two have to fight monsters, too?" Minako asked curiously.

"Yes," Setsuna replied. "And it took all four of us to defeat them, which means that we're dealing with very powerful monsters."

"Which leads us to another thing." Haruka glanced at Michiru, which caused everyone to do the same thing once more.

"In my mirror," Michiru began, "All I saw was black, and all I could really feel was pain and fear." She paused. "There was hope in there, too, but I'm not really sure why."

Haruka put her hands in her pockets. "They kept mentioning their dreams, too. To sing for Japan as an idol singer, and the other…to marry."

"More pieces to the puzzle," Ami said.

Artemis cleared his throat. He moved to stand on all fours as he looked up at the nine girls. "Until we find out more about them, the only thing we can do is keep our guard up. If possible…travel at least in groups of two or more. We don't know what these monsters are completely capable of, and I don't want to see anyone get hurt."

All of them nodded in agreement.

"As always, let's keep in contact with anything new we find," Artemis continued. "Luna and I weren't able to find anything else out, but we're hoping to soon. We'll let everyone know…"


	7. Danger at the shrine

Author's Notes: Here's chapter six! I'm a couple chapters ahead in the story, and with school winding down, I'll hopefully be able to keep updating this story on a decent basis. I hope you all enjoy reading it as much as I do writing it!

* * *

Much to everyone's surprise, things seemed to stay rather calm for the rest of the week. When Saturday rolled around, it brought with it nice, clear skies and warm weather—it was the perfect time for a sales event.

Rei had spent majority of her Friday preparing for it with the help of her friends. It was rounding the time where a lot of people would want to buy different kinds of amulets and receive _omikuji_—otherwise known as fortunes—from the shrine. She always felt better when people came and got them from her and the shrine, knowing that several of the shops that sold them in town usually didn't put their heart and soul into making them as authentic as possible. Not like she, Yuichiro and her grandfather did.

Although she had asked all of her friends to help her, only Ami and Makoto were able, as both Usagi and Minako had plans with their families. She hadn't asked Haruka and the others mostly because she knew they were always so busy.

Sales at first weren't quite the best, but they picked up during the afternoon. There were girls—and boys, occasionally—of all ages hanging around the shrine, buying amulets, praying, or unrolling their _omikuji_. People were smiling, laughing and just having a good time, and that cast a positive glow and healthy energy around.

As the day passed, the amount of people who came to the shrine fluctuated, eventually beginning to dwindle. By the time evening approached Rei and the others had started gathering everything up and putting it away. They didn't officially close until a little while later, but there was no point in sitting there and waiting for people to stop in when they could save themselves clean up time.

"We should probably be getting home soon!" Ami said once she noticed what time it was. "There's that reading to do for Social Studies, for English, for Japanese…" She glanced at Makoto. "Have you started?"

Makoto lifted up her hand and held it behind her head. "Not…quite yet."

Rei, who had been placing the left over good luck charms and amulets into a small box, gave her friends a smile. "I've kept you both pretty late! Thanks for staying here and helping me. I really appreciate it. I'll give you your pay before you leave, all right?"

Both Ami and Makoto nodded, smiling as well. Both had rolls of _omikuji_ in their hands, which they were almost finished boxing up. Rei stepped out of the shrine and walked toward the stairs, intent on removing the sign from the pillar. But just as she was about to take the sign down she noticed a guy stepping up the stairs. He had light colored hair, pale skin and was slight of build, which gave him a somewhat foreign look.

"Oh, are you closing?" he asked, disappointment in his voice.

"Oh, no!" Rei said. She smiled and gestured for him to keep climbing the steps. "I'm just removing the sign since we'll be closing in a little bit. If you'd like to buy something, you're more than welcome."

A smile appeared on his face. "Thank you!"

Rei turned around and returned to the shrine with the sign, placing it behind one of the sliding doors beside where Ami and Makoto were.

"One more sale," she said, gesturing behind her.

When he arrived, the boy smiled a bit wider than most did, clapping his hands together at the leftover display. There wasn't much, but it didn't seem to matter to him. "These are all so wonderful," he said. He picked up the nearest, which was a little blue pouch charm, decorated with a cute dog sitting with its ears perked up. It had the characters for protection written on the right side.

"I want this one," he said, handing them money in exchange for it. Before they had a chance to say anything he said "Thank you!" and turned, taking off.

The three of them didn't say anything about it, and instead just shared a laugh. They had had their fair share of awkward and somewhat strange people throughout the day, so it wasn't all that different, having one at night. But thankfully the sign was down, and hopefully nobody else would come up, so that they were able to finish closing up the shrine.

Ami and Makoto eventually changed out of their borrowed _miko_ robes and placed them in the appropriate spot. They, along with Rei, were standing out in front of the shrine.

"Thanks so much," Rei said cheerfully. "I'll see you two tomorrow at the fruit parlor?"

"Sounds like a plan!" Makoto said with a thumbs-up. "We'll see you then."

Ami smiled and waved. "See you!"

Rei waited until she couldn't see either of them anymore before she returned to the shrine, closed the door and grabbed the broom to sweep. She wasn't going to sweep the entire area—that would take too long—but the immediate area surrounding the front needed to be cleaned up before she could finish getting everything else done for the night.

While she swept, Rei hummed quietly to herself. It was to her surprise when she looked up and noticed the somewhat strange boy from before holding the charm in his hand.

The corners of his mouth curled up as he stepped closer to her. "Thank you for the charm!"

Although she felt no fear, there was a slight anxiousness that stemmed from her surprise. Rei furrowed her brow for a moment before smiling a little uneasily. He should have left by now, and she could have sworn that he did. "No problem!" she replied.

She expected him to leave then, but she didn't feel entirely surprised when she saw him approach further. She held onto the broom a little bit tighter, almost as if preparing to use it as a weapon. There was an evil aura in the air that she hadn't felt before and it worried her. Rei glanced away from him only briefly, in order to see if either her grandfather or Yuichiro were anywhere nearby. When she turned her attention back to him, his clothing had changed; instead of wearing a pair of jeans and a long-sleeved shirt as he had been before, he was now wearing a pair of fitted black shorts, an equally fitted short-sleeve shirt, thin black gloves and a pair of boots. Any piece of revealed skin was as pale as the moon rising above them.

"Superstitions always make for great fear," Somasis said, slipping the protection charm onto his wrist. He brought his hand to his face and cupped the right side of it. "I noticed you sweep from east to west. Do you know it brings bad energy if you do it the opposite way?" Rei stayed silent, which prompted him to continue. "Then again, you probably know a lot about superstitions. I'd_ love_ to see what it is that _you_ think is true about them!"

Right after he shouted those last few words, Somasis stuck out his hand and shot a beam of dark energy right toward Rei. She shouted and dodged it by jumping up and flipping through the air. When it came in contact with the shrine door it dispersed like smoke, leaving nothing more than a pile of ashes in its wake. Rei looked back at it and swallowed hard.

She couldn't transform, not with the possibility of being found out by her grandfather or Yuichiro. It took her only a second to go with her other option. Closing her eyes, she pulled out a thin piece of white paper—her _ofuda_—before murmuring to herself the chant: "_Rin, pyo, tou, sha, kai, jin, retsu, zai, zen…!_" When she opened her eyes she exclaimed, "Be gone, evil spirit!" and threw the _ofuda_ right at Somasis.

When it came in contact with him nothing happened at first, but a moment thereafter it began to sting the flesh of his face. He cried out in pain and attempted to pull it off of him. Once he managed to do so he heard footsteps running up behind him.

"Wait right there!"

Somasis turned. Before him stood Sailor Mercury and Sailor Jupiter. They were blocking the stairs that led down to the street below.

"Attacking priestesses at a shrine is unbelievable! You should be ashamed of yourself!" Sailor Mercury said. "In the name of Mercury—"

Sailor Jupiter pointed at Somasis. "—And Jupiter!—"

"—We will punish you!"

While the two of them posed, Somasis growled and gingerly touched the surface of his skin. It stung still and felt red hot to the touch. He glared. "You stupid girls! I have a mission to accomplish, and you're not gonna stop me!" Pulling his hand away from his face he threw it out in their direction, a dark energy beam bursting from his hand. Both Sailor Mercury and Sailor Jupiter dodged it, rolling to opposite sides of the area.

"_Mercury…Aqua Rhapsody!_"

Somasis barely had time to jump back and into the air when the jet of icy cold water shot past him. It hit his arm, nearly freezing the skin. Just as he was about to throw another energy beam at the two girls on the ground he heard a third from behind him. He shot a look over his shoulder.

"_Mars Flame Sniper!_"

"No! No no _NO!_" Somasis met Sailor Mars' flame arrow with a beam of dark energy, one that was strong enough to deflect her power and cause it to go flying in another direction. He barely had time to do that before he heard behind him:

"_Jupiter Oak…Evolution_!"

Hundreds of what looked like electrified twigs shot at him. Somasis disappeared from sight for a moment, leaving a black cloud of smoke in his place. When he reappeared he looked down at the three girls, face red.

"You all ruined my plan!" he shouted angrily, voice cracking. "And you're gonna pay!" This time he used both hands to shoot beams of energy at the sailor senshi. Although he didn't manage to hit any of them, he caused the ground around them to erupt and for the cement to break, and all three went flying in different directions with cries and shouts. Somasis looked around almost frantically once more to make sure that he could hit at least one of them. It shouldn't have been as hard as it was.

Little did he know that down below, the three had figured out a plan. Mercury and Jupiter went running in one direction, and as they had expected, Somasis chased after them. That left his back wide open to an attack. Sailor Mars began twirling around, a ring of fire surrounding her.

"_Burning…Mandala!_" she exclaimed, shooting the newly formed glowing rings at him.

Somasis happened to catch the attack just in time to dive out of the way. Knowing that he was far too outnumbered for the time being, he ascended further into the air, shaking his fist angrily. "You stupid girls! I'll come back for each and every one of you! Just you wait!"

Mercury had already begun to prepare her Shabon Spray when Somasis disappeared, leaving yet another cloud of black smoke behind. She uncrossed her arms and lowered them, looking from Jupiter to Mars.

Sailor Mars growled faintly. "We were so close. Damn it!"

"He still got away!" Sailor Jupiter added irritably.

Mercury was the only one who had any positive spin on the situation. "We've discovered a third one, though, haven't we?" she asked. "And there were no monsters this time, only him…he was going after you, wasn't he?" She looked to Sailor Mars.

"Yeah," she replied. "And he talked about superstitions…and wanting to see what I thought were true about them? Or which ones I thought were true?" She scratched her head. "Something like that?"

"Weird," Jupiter said.

"But valuable." Mercury chewed on her lower lip for a moment. Wheels were turning in her head, and it was visible based on the way she spoke. "Good things to know. We should give this information to Luna and Artemis."

"Tomorrow, at the fruit parlor," Mars suggested.

They would all see each other then, and who knew? Maybe they could finally make some sense out of everything that was going on.


	8. A new plan

Author's Notes: Here's chapter seven. Hopefully it's as enjoyable as all the other chapters thus far!

* * *

Usagi, Ami, Rei, Makoto and Minako all sat around the table in the Crown Center Fruit Parlor, the severity of the situation before them weighing somewhat heavily on all of their shoulders. Luna and Artemis were there as well, but because of the stigma of having them near the table, they were resting in Usagi and Minako's respective bags.

They had discussed the present issue at length, which left them all with a somewhat sour feeling. So far, they had come across two individuals—three if they counted the one met by the outer senshi—all of whom seemed to have very little in common…or if they did, it was unable to be concluded at the moment.

But, after all that had happened, the girls were feeling drained. Between school, clubs and suddenly having to reincorporate fighting into their lives again, things had become once again complicated.

"So let's go over what we know again," Luna suggested.

"We've got three known enemies so far," Rei said. "Two women and one boy."

"They seem to be pretty powerful," Makoto added. "The one from last night dodged all of our attacks…and what he shot back at us was almost overwhelming."

"They've all attacked at night, haven't they?" Minako inquired suddenly. "The first one I battled against happened at night. The one Haruka and the others ran into was in the evening…and then yesterday, you three faced it right after _nightfall_. Right?"

Ami, Rei and Makoto all nodded their heads.

"Sounds to me like whoever these people are, they don't like the sunlight. Because there hasn't been one attack during the day."

"There have only been a few attacks thus far, though," Luna explained. "So we can't say with certainty that that's the case. But it seems to be our only real conclusion up to this point…"

Ami, who had been mostly quiet up until that point, suddenly said quietly, thoughtfully, "Ambition…superstition…dreams…" It caught the attention of everyone else sitting around the table, all of whom quieted down to listen. Snapping her fingers, the blue haired girl smiled. "I've got it! What do they all have in common? _Fear_."

Usagi made a strange noise to show her confusion, as well as scratched her head. "Fear?"

"Yes. Don't you see? It makes complete sense! You chase ambition, you hold superstitions, and you dream…and in each and every case, there's usually a want or a fear behind it."

"Why wouldn't it be wants, then?" Rei asked curiously.

"Well," Ami began, "if it were wants that they were chasing after, wouldn't they have much better luck going after people during the daytime? I mean, that's when most people are actively taking part in chasing their ambitions and dreams. Superstitions usually involve some kind of fear, too…the fear that something bad will happen in a certain given situation." After a pause, she added with a smile, "Plus, Michiru said she felt fear in the mirror."

Everyone's faces fell at first, but they all began making agreeing noises afterwards. It was true, what Ami said.

Usagi grinned. "That's our Ami! Always coming up with the answers!"

Ami's face quickly turned pensive. "That still doesn't answer all of our questions, though. Why are they here? What's their purpose for attacking people and feeding off of their fears?"

"Those seem like answers that'll come in time," Makoto said. She took a sip of her soda. "I think we'd be safe in assuming that whatever they want, it's bad…and that it involves hurting people to get it."

"That's another odd thing," Ami continued. "The people that have had their fear taken out of them…they don't turn _into_ the monsters…the monsters come from the fear itself. So why do they just leave the people behind?"

"We'll have to investigate that further when another attack happens," Artemis said. "All we can do now is…well, wait."

"That doesn't sound very positive," Luna said, shooting a look to the other cat.

"Well, if what Minako said is true, then we can't do anything until nightfall, can we?"

Luna growled faintly. She hated it when Artemis was right, although she didn't quite know why.

. . .

"Foolproof plan, huh?"

Dreadma looked at Somasis with an almost haughty expression on her face. It was nice to know that he had failed, after all of his boasting. Not that she wouldn't come right out and say it, of course…

Somasis, who was sitting in one of the run down chairs, said sharply, "Shut up! There were _three_ of those obnoxious girls there, none of which I had been expecting. And last I checked, _your_targets weren't capable of using magic on you if they were mortal. So in a way it was like I was up against four."

"Big deal." Dreadma shook her head. "I went up against four as well, and I still scraped by alive."

"Last I knew, you ran with your tail between your legs before the battle even begun," Somasis said almost acidly. "At least I stuck around and tried to fight them."

Before Dreadma was able to get out another word, Eziret made himself known by clearing his throat and then chuckling. Both she and Somasis quieted down, looking in his direction.

"Catfighting already?" he asked.

"Not funny," Somasis whined faintly. He got up from the chair and moved toward Eziret, almost pouting. "She's trying to make me feel guilty for failing, when really, she failed worse than I did!"

Dreadma was indignant. "I was _not_—"

"Quiet," Eziret said sternly. "This is neither the time nor the place for you two to start arguing. We have a mission to accomplish here. With three failed attempts, it's a wonder Phantasmos hasn't punished _all_ of us. This is becoming a little ridiculous."

"They're tougher than you think." Dreadma, who had calmed down since her sudden outburst, brushed her hands down her front and wrinkled up her nose momentarily in distaste. "These guardians for the planet, they're always there whether you want them to be or not. Somasis went after them directly after his failed attempt, and he couldn't battle three alone."

Eziret remained quiet and thoughtful in appearance. Somasis, who had again moved closer, brushed off something from the taller man's shoulder. "What are you planning to do, Eziret?"

"I don't plan on failing, for one," Eziret said. Noticing the way that both Somasis and Dreadma stiffened, he continued, "We've been caught off guard by them long enough. Now it's time to set a trap. If these girls have these kinds of abilities, then they likely have strong enough dreams, hopes—anything—that will help our Faras to maintain corporeal states long enough to keep them alive in the sunlight. Without that strength, then we'll have no way of attacking more and more during the day."

"A world without healthy ambitions or dreams is a dark thing indeed," Dreadma said mockingly, with a smile on her face.

Eziret smirked.

Somasis smiled eagerly. "What's the plan, then?"

"If they want to attack in groups, then _we'll_ attack in groups. Or…in this case, pairs."

He stepped away from Somasis, who stumbled after him for a moment before stopping in the middle of the room, while Eziret continued toward one of the covered windows. The swirling black hole that covered it cast a faint glow over his pale skin.

"While Somasis and I attack one part of the city, you and Anxa are going to attack another. We've come across…what, _nine_ of these monstrous girls now? We can handle them better if there's another one of us there. One can keep them occupied while the other continues doing their job: extracting fear from the humans. And with two groups, their focus will be split. Assuming all of them show up for duty, that is. If they don't? Even better."

It irritated Dreadma that she hadn't come up with a similar idea. Then again, it was easy to create such elaborate concepts when all you did was watch while others took chances. Maybe it was smart of him, or maybe it wasn't. Either way, she feared that he was attempting to gain more face with Phantasmos. If he did, then there was a possibility that she would lose herself as first in command. And of course, that was exactly was Eziret was doing. He wanted nothing more than to see Dreadma lose her position and for him to take it. After all, that was what he had wanted for so long…

"A good plan," Dreadma conceded with a guarded pose.

"Of _course_ it's a good plan!" Somasis said. "Eziret _always_ comes up with good plans. Don't you?" He turned toward the taller one, grinning.

"It'll be _your_ duty to chase after who I tell you to," Eziret said. "I'll keep these guardians busy. They won't know what hit them." The tall, dark haired man folded his arms over his chest.

This would work out perfectly.


End file.
